Perspectives of Dentistry Residents about their Curriculum (2012)

Introduction: This study was carried out to analyze the viewpoint of dentistry residents about the curriculum presented in the residency program to students of Mashhad School of Dentistry.

Methods: In this cross-sectional descriptive study, to evaluate the perspectives of dentistry residents about the curriculum and regulations of residency program, a questionnaire was designed whose validity and reliability were confirmed by the authorities of School of Dentistry and test-retest reliability, respectively. The questionnaires were distributed among 100 residents and 80 of them completed the questionnaires. The data were analyzed by SPSS software (version 11.5).

Results: A total of 43% of residents were informed of the curriculum (e.g. academic leave, transfer, removal of semester, etc.). As for the ability to write research proposal, 42.7% of residents were reported to have a favorable status, i.e. they were able to write more than 80% of their proposal. From among the residents, 30.4% had specialized English language certificate. Most of them (77%) were satisfied with the professional staff, faculty members, of the faculty. Many students (74.4%) liked to participate in the teaching method courses of the residency program.

Conclusion: Residents maintained that the curriculum in such domains as educational and research issues and special capabilities had some weak points. Thus, appropriate strategies are recommended to be applied to revise the curriculum using the residents’ views on these programs.